By Charlotte buchanan
Photography by Richard Beattie
Cheryl Thornhill is a native of Hattiesburg but has lived in Greenwood for the last ten years. Thornhill is the Executive Director of the Museum of the Mississippi Delta. She holds a Bachelor’s in history from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master’s in history from the University of Nevada Reno.
Her work background is perfect for this position. She started her career as an archaeologist with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and later transferred to the Manship House Museum. She served as Assistant Director of the Nevada Historical Society, Executive Director of Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona and and also Director of the Center for History in South Bend, Illinois.
Thornhill described the Museum of the Delta this way. “We house some of the Delta’s oldest artifacts from prehistoric times to the present, including original art, military history, Paleo and Mississippi Indian history, and the life of Greenwood Leflore. We just completed a wonderful traveling exhibition titled “For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights”, Thornhill says.
Thornhill says that a good way to that entice people to attend museums is to host special events and special exhibitions. “This summer at our museum we plan to have exhibitions and cocktail inspired events with music,” she comments.
She is married to Kyle Thornhill and she has two step-sons and one grandchild. She is the past president of the Town and Country Garden Club and President Elect of the Greenwood Rotary Club.
Thornhill is very proud of a recent production held at the museum. “We presented an Interpretive Dance Program in May that was choreographed by Erin Mulligan. It featured young people from the Boys and Girls Club and St. Francis School. It was patterned after the style of dance created by the All American African Alvin Alley Dance Company. and was sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council,” states Thornhil.
